The Lost and the Forgotten
by EchoDrift
Summary: It has been 5 months since that day she disappeared, 5 months since he had started wishing he could take back the stinging words he had said. He knew that the happiness wouldn't last, couldn't last, but now he didn't think it was possible for him to live without it...without her. Now he would do whatever it took, however long, to get her back...no matter the cost.
1. Chapter 1

_**Never ending Search**_

**Start of the sequel yay! Thank you all for being so patient, I just had to get my bearings straight enough to start it, now here it is! Enjoy the first chapter and I do not own rights to Slender! And this fic starts 5 months after the end of Nightmares of the Damned.**

I wiped a few drops of sweat from my brow as the setting sun shined its rays of heat onto my face, my footsteps heavy from the long patrol. Todays temperature had been the hottest this week and it was not benefiting anyone, especially someone like me who was stuck on patrol. And just when everything seemed clear and I was about to head back I heard a weird noise, like something eating but more...disgusting sounding. I put my back to the tree beside me and peered around the edge, I spotted a group of those disgusting parasites feeding on something...it was a woman! I slowly pulled out my silenced pistol and my hunting knife before I moved forward carefully, avoiding stepping on the leaves and drawing attention to myself. I stopped about two feet away and took down three out of the five before they charged at me, and I pushed one to the ground and plunged my knife into its head before being knocked aside by the fifth. "Ooof!" The air was knocked out of me as it landed on me with all its weight, but before it could try and bite I placed my gun underneath and without hesitating I pulled the trigger, making dark black red blood splatter onto my arm.

As I pushed the gross body off I suddenly remembered the woman and I rushed over to her to see her gurgling and clawing at the air, she was in obvious pain seeing as her throat had been ripped out and her stomach was ripped open. I watched with sadness in my eyes as the life finally faded from her stare and her head lolled to the side, blood still oozing from her wounds, "May you find peace in your endless sleep..." I looked off into the trees as the setting sun turned the sky a mixture of pinks and oranges, it was so peaceful and out of place in a world so destroyed and crumbling. I exhaled slowly and turned around, eager to get back to camp and get some well deserved rest. As I walked a slight breeze made my now elbow length hair blow gently around my face, tickling my nose and making me wrinkle it. Alot has changed since the day of my accident, but how much? I can't remember anything past that day and John says that I had been missing for a while, but how did I end up so close to camp? Maybe I had found a trail and made my way there, but then I just had an accident...how much did it change me though? That was the one question I was always afraid of, if I had changed. John had said no but I was always skeptical on the whole thing, my personality couldn't be the same if I had amnesia for I could have forgotten something that made me who I was.

(Back at camp, Narrative) The setting sun cast shadows over the few people walking around and by the tents, each on carrying out one task or another to benefit them all. While he watched them work, John sat off by himself on a ridge overlooking the camp, thinking and absentmindedly running his fingers over the few scars that covered his arm and one clouded eye. The ones caused by that wreck that seemed like it was so long ago and nearly cost him his life...but it took what was left of his family away, and that scar would never heal. He chuckled to his self as he remembered how in one split second, his life changed, no, was destroyed. Yes, he saved Charlie and Orella, but it was only out of pity, for he knew that they would die at the hands of that monster...but it seemed that Orella, well Wren now, seemed to get away. And to his luck she had fallen and didn't remember anything from before, now his life could end up the way he had always dreamed, the way it was supposed to be. But what he still didn't understand, and never will, is how someone can look past all they death and despair in one soul and still find something to love?

He was about to ponder this further but all of a sudden his train of thought was broken when he heard a few raised voices below, looked like Wren had returned from patrol but Sarah was arguing with her about something. He smiled as he watched the target of his affections hold her ground and Sarah backed off, he noticed that her personality was different from when he was with her in the cabin, her eyes held a cold that wasn't there before and she did not hesitate to do what was right. But the fact that she actually believed that they were married was icing on the cake, now they could be together...but how long would it last?

(First person PoV) I didn't blink as Sarah approached me with a scowl on her face, looked like she caught wind of what I had found on my patrol, damn that Sam. "Wren, what the hell is this about a group of parasites near camp?" I crossed my arms and had a slightly annoyed tone to my voice as I answered her, "It's ok Sarah, I took care of them. They were just a small group wandering through." "Yes but where there's one group there's more, we need to send out a bigger patrol to scan the area at night now." I shook my head at her absurd idea, everyone was tired as it was with what we did during the day, we wouldn't be able to uphold any night patrols, no one had the energy. "No one has the energy Sarah, we already over work ourselves during the day, I'm sure having a night watch is enough." Just as she was about to open her mouth and reply, we both heard an all to familiar voice pipe up from behind me and I felt a hand clamp down lightly on my shoulder. "Hey Red, Sarah, how's it goin?" Sarah said nothing and huffed as she turned and stomped off, probably going to read a book or something. But I couldn't really blame her, not after what had happened to Mike and the others about two months back. They had been on patrol and a group of the dead had ambushed them...there were no survivors.

All of us knew that Mike and Sarah had a thing and she was devastated when she heard the news, it took us about two weeks to get her to leave her tent for something other than using the bathroom and getting a drink. "So...she seems angry." I shrugged and turned towards Sam with a smirk, "She'll be fine, she's just overreacting. So are you here to harass me some more?" He shrugged as well and chuckled as we began to walk towards mine and Johns tent, "Oh you know, just making my rounds and making sure everyone is all fine and dandy. So how's it goin with you and John, I've noticed you've been a bit distant lately." I felt myself retreat back into my emotional shell and my shoulders tensed a bit at the question, even though I was close to Sammy I didn't usually tell anyone about my personal life, so I just made an excuse and avoided the question. "I'm fine, we're fine, just tired lately. So, what's for dinner tonight?" He stopped and looked at me with a knowing look, of course he could tell I was avoiding the question but he seemed to choose the smarter decision and just shook his head, letting us continue our walk. The rest was spent in silence and by the time we got to my tent I had relaxed from his question, "Well, I uh, should get ready for bed and what not. See ya tomorrow Sam." He smiled and hugged me close, it was loving but more in a brother/sister kind of way, he's always been like a big brother to me. "Alright Red, get some good sleep. And dinner tonight is a few raccoons and some squirrels."

I waved to him as he walked off and turned to enter my tent when I bumped into John, he had a sort of stern look on his face and he motioned for me to follow him into the tent, probably wants to have a 'talk' again. "You alright hun? You seem on edge." He turned to me as I sat and began to take my boots off, "Well, for one you tried to hide the fact that you found some of those dead about 2 miles from camp, and second off, you seem to be getting a bit too close to Samuel...I don't like it." I Rolled my eyes as I took off my shirt and threw on a more comfortable one, he was always so damn protective, "You know better than to think that something is going on between us, he's like a brother to me and nothing more. But I'm glad to know that you trust me so much." He glanced at me as an irritated tone crept into my voice and sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair and over his face, weariness now apparent on his face, "Look...I didn't mean it like that I just...I don't want to lose you again." My eyes softened and I moved over to the man who held my heart, softly running my fingers over his scarred eye and down to his neck, I leaned in and kissed his cheek before laying my head against his chest.

"I''m sorry it makes you uncomfortable, and I promise, I won't leave you again. But you have to trust me a bit more John, please." He nodded and bent his head down to rest it in the crook of my neck, inhaling and exhaling slowly as he closed his eyes peacefully. "Ok, I promise Wren, I'll try...I promise." And for a moment everything was almost perfect, peaceful almost, and I really felt as if I could just sit here to the end of my days with the man who cared for me, and I for him.

(At the Cabin, Narrative) The wind blew leaves around the silent cabin, the slight creak of the trees the only noise at the moment, making a feeling of erieness settle around. A young woman opened the door of the cabin and slowly walked out along with her dog, carrying a rifle and machete on her back and a small book bag with supplies. As she began to walk through the silent woods a tall faceless man in a black suit appeared in front of her, "Charlie, you agreed to wait until I returned." "Well I have been waiting around for hours and I was getting impatient." He said nothing as she brushed past him, the dog following behind, and he followed at a slower pace, knowing that if he got to far behind he could always port next to her. She knew that he could here her so she began to talk over her route for the day, "We haven't checked the woods to the south very well so I'm going to do a more thourough check. Where are you going to head?" The Slender man tilted his head and thought for a moment, a very human gesture he seemed to have picked up, and gestured in the opposite direction, "I believe I will check farther that way." "But we agreed that she didn't even go that way-" But before she could finish, he had vanished, "Figures." She muttered to herself before hitching her bag up a bit further and walking off, hoping to find some trace, anything, to prove that her friend was out there somewhere.

Slender man moved silently through the woods, as silent as a ghost and as deadly as a bullet, skimming over every tree and every piece of open ground, he couldn't afford to miss any clues. As he walked and observed he let his mind wander to the last day he had seen her, his young hunter, (Flashback) "Can you please say something?" "What do you want me to say?...how can I know you'll always be with me and not realize your mistake?" She chuckled darkly, "You know what...I just...I really thought I loved you. But now I see I was wrong, and I was wrong to ever think that you would feel the same way..." (Present) A frown formed on his face as he remembered the hurt and pain etched on his face, the way she just let it go and walked out that door...it was his mistake and now he had to fix it...he promised her. But he was pulled out of his thoughts as he stepped on something metal, and he looked down to see a rusted and bent bicycle. He ran his fingers over the bent spokes and tried to think of a reason for this being here, but then he froze as his fingers brushed cloth. "It can't be..." It was just a piece of gray-brown fabric poking out from under a good but of earth, but as he continued to pull it up he gasped at what it was...Orella's button up shirt.

She was here...she was alive, but she could be anywhere by now. He held the shirt close to him even though it was caked in mud and turned to head back to the cabin, he had to let Charlie know so that they could begin to search farther out from this point. He would find her no matter what it took, and he would bring her back home.

**I know I know this took way to long, I've just been busy working and going to school so I haven't had much time. But I finally got the first chapter and here it is! Please leave me reviews on what ya think!**


	2. Push and Pull

_**Push and Pull**_

**I'm trying to write these a bit faster since the first chapter took so long, and I think that you all have been killed enough by the suspense :) No Slender rights**

(At the Cabin) Charlie yawned and stretched her tired limbs, she must have been looking for any clue for hours. After she had gotten back to the house she hadn't seen Slender so she ate something light and turned in for the night, that was usually the routine, look for Orella, eat, go to bed. A never ending cycle that made her hope slowly wane day by day, sometimes she didn't know whether it was still worth looking...but she could never tell him that. For the first few weeks he said nothing, only ghosting around as silently as death itself, hardly going out to hunt and not trying to sleep. All he would do was sit in their room and hold her journal tenderly, as if hoping that she may come into the room and scold him for trying to look through it...but she never did.

Then one day he spoke once more, though it was quietly and his voice sounded broken and heavy with grief, "She thought of you as a sister, you know that right?" She had nodded and let him continue, not wanting to make him fall back into an unspoken silence, "She even said she loved me...me...but I never got to say it back..." "Slender...we will find her, I promise. But how do we know she isn't too far gone?" He growled lowly and he curled his hand into a fist, "She promised...it said she would come back, she won't break that promise. So we will wait for her." But Charlie was shaken from her thoughts as Bongo barked and she looked down to see Artimus, still a kitten but not so small, and he was meowing hungrily, "Aw, is the kitty hungry? Well lets get some breakfast shall we?" She lept up and threw on some day clothes before walking out to the kitchen and pouring food for each animal into their respective bowls, smiling as she watched them eat contentedly.

It must be nice to live so carefree, to not have to spend your day worrying if you would die on a supply run or if your friend was dead...or just simply gone. She soon realized that she was slipping into a state of thought that she had intention of going to and shook her head, today she would find something, she could feel it. Moving towards the kitchen she grabbed the peanut butter and made a quick sandwich before throwing on her light jacket and rushing outside, only to run into a wall of black. "Ugh, watch out there broody, ya almost killed me." Slender sighed and set Charlie back onto her feet with a few of his tentacles, "Trust me, if I really wanted to kill you, you'd be dead." She just chuckled and brushed off her jacket before looking up to him, "I was just going to start over a bit farther from where I was yesterday, I figured that she might have went off trail-" "She's not near that direction Charlie." Charlie looked to him confused, "How would you know?"

He went silent as he reached into his slightly muddy jacket, which surprised her greatly, and slowly pulled out a tattered piece of cloth. Her eyes widened as she realized that this wasn't just any piece of scrap clothing...it was Orella's shirt...she was alive. "Where did you..." "It was at the bottom of a slope in the woods to the west, a crashed bike was near it as well." "Then she's still alive right? We have to go there and search!" He nodded and placed the shirt on the porch before wrapping a tentacle around Charlie and hefting her up a bit roughly, "What are you doing?" He smirked toothily before replying, loving the slightly scared tone she had, "We getting there my way, it saves time." And they disappeared.

(First person, Orella) I opened my eyes to find myself standing on a silent open hill...wait...why was I on a hill and why don't I remember coming here? I looked around to find nothing other than a single tree behind me, odd, you would think that since I had just been in a forest there would be more trees. "Uh...hello? Anyone there?" There was no reply, only the wind blowing softly through the tree and making a few leaves float down, I turned and began to walk towards the sun, maybe it would lead me back to the forest. But my hope began to wane as I walked for what felt like hours, only to find more hills ahead of me, this place couldn't be real, wasn't real. "Lost my Wren?" I turned at the sound of a voice and saw John waiting by another random tree, but I ran over not caring how weird it was at the moment, I just wanted to get out of here. As I reached him I let him pull me in for a hug, feeling the need to be comforted, "John where are we? And how did we get here? Where's the camp?"

He chuckled as I shot out question after question without getting a single breath in, "Now calm down, one thing at a time." I closed my eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath, and then I asked again, "Where are we?" He simply smiled and stated matter-of-factly, "We are where we belong, somewhere where we can be together." I scrunched up my eyebrows in confusion, what was he talking about? "But John, we were already somewhere that we could be together, in the camp. What about out friends?" "Don't worry about them Wren, they're where they belong now too, where they can be together as well." I was beginning to get frightened and I tried to pull away from John, but he held my arm tight and grinned at me, showing his teeth. "Are you trying to leave me again? You promised this time you wouldn't go." "I'm just going to find out where we are, I'll come back I swear!" "Sorry, liers don't get a second chance." My eyes widened in horror as thunder sounded over head and dark grey clouds rolled in, casting dark shadows over the two of us. His teeth began to elongate and point and his eyes turned completely red with black cat like pupils, I felt his nail grow out into dagger like points and they cut into my skin, making me cry out in pain and try to pull away again.

"Let go you monster!" This time I was able to break free and I began to run the opposite way, and this time there were actual woods in the direction I was running. "Just have to keep running..." I chanted the mantra to myself as I ran, tripping over a few stones and I looked behind me to see if I was still being chased...but there was no one there. I slowed my running and eventually came to a stop, thunder still rolling over head, and I looked around in confusion, I could have sworn I had heard voices and footsteps following me. But maybe I was wrong, maybe they had stopped. I took one last look around before turning to keep walking...big mistake. I didn't get to think twice as I was met with a glowing red gaze, fear running through my veins and freezing me, before he roared loudly and then my world went black.

(Reality) I awoke gasping for breath and clawing at the sheets on my makeshift bed, that was the worst dream I had dreamt in months...did it mean something? None of the other nightmares had been about John, they had only consisted of the same wooded area and something dark with tentacles chasing me, and each time I could never escape. But my train of thought was broken as a head popped into the tent and I saw that it was Katrina, a shy smile on her face, "Hey, thought that you might still be in bed. Sam and Danny are waiting for you for patrol and hunting, might wanna hurry." My eyes widened with realization and I nodded as I scrambled for my clothes, shooting Katrina a quick 'thanks' as she left, I never woke this late, what the hell was up with me. I think I broke a record and was dressed in about two minutes before I quickly walked out of my tent and jogged over to where Sam and Danny were standing, Sam being about 8 inches taller than Danny and looking over him didn't help me not laugh as I got over to them. "I see you wasted no time in making us wait Red, good going."

Danny elbowed Sam in the ribs and smirked at me in a boyish way, the kid was only 19, "Don't listen to him Wren, your worth waiting for." I smiled sweetly and patted his arm before walking towards the path out of camp, all the while listening to Sam make kissy noises at Danny and tease him, "All, little boy has crush on his mentor how cute!" "Shut it Samuel!" I smirked as I heard him groan at the use of his full name, how he hated it when I called him that, but it was the only sure fire way to shut him up. "Now, we're going to sweep the area closest to camp then try and grab some food alright?" They both nodded and we began to walk the perimeter. We had only come across about 2 or three dead before we finished the main part and we walked further into the woods, going to check the traps we always laid out for the night. "Danny come with me to check the deer traps, Sam, go check the rabbit traps alright tough guy?"

He rolled his eyes and shoved me a bit before heading off in the right direction, leaving Danny and I to head towards the first trap. I sighed as I saw nothing but the trap had been triggered, damn crafty animals, and I bent over to hook it back up and place some more foliage over it. As I was finishing I could feel Danny hovering a bit and shifting his feet, "Something on your mind Dan?" I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye and I finished it up and began walking to the next one before he spoke up, "I was just wondering, are you and John actually married?" I scrunched my eyebrows up in confusion, why would he ask that? "Why so curious?" "Oh uh, I just never seen a ring on either of your fingers." "Well, we were never actually married, only engaged, but I guess my ring was lost at some point."

"Oh, sorry." I shrugged and again sighed in disappointment as the second trap was empty as well, just one more to check. I let Danny reset this one but as he tried to tie it off he couldn't finish the knot, I crouched beside him and showed him an easier way to tie it. "All you have to do is loop it twice instead of trying to knot it here and there, alright?" He seemed dazed for a moment but then snapped out of it, "Oh, right. Thanks." I nodded and we proceeded towards the final trap, hoping to get lucky and hopefully it had a catch. But just as we were nearing it I felt something in the air and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "Danny stop...there's something out there." He stopped mid step and pulled out his sawed off shot gun and point it behind us, "What do you mean? I don't see anything." I didn't move as my eyes scanned the trees for any movement, waiting for something to appear and attack, but nothing came. I knew I felt something I just knew it, it couldn't just be my mind, "...lets just get the deer and go okay..." He nodded and moved towards the average sized doe that had been unfortunate enough to get caught in the trap, quickly cutting it free and dragging it towards me.

"Aren't we going to gut it before bringing it back to camp?" I shook my self slightly from my daze and glanced over to the teen, "No, we can do it at the edge of the woods...I don't like the feeling of this place." He nodded and I helped him heft the deer as we made our way back to the edge of the forest...the tension following me all the way out.

**Not the best chapter but it wasn't so bad, it is going to be a bit slow at first so bear with me. Love all my reviewers and followers!**


	3. Chapter 3: Rising suspicion

_**Rising Suspicion**_

**Sorry bout the late update, I just kinda forgot about it lol honestly. But I'll try not to do this too often, no Slender rights.**

"What do you mean you were 'being watched'?" "I mean that someone was out there watching us, closely." Both Katrina and I sat in the middle of camp salting and canning some of the meat from the deer we had caught and preparing what we planned on eating tonight. "None of our patrols have ever even seen signs of another group or single person, I don't think there was anyone out there." I stopped canning and rinsed my hands off In the pot of water beside me, getting frustrated as no one seemed to believe me, "I know there was, I just had this weird...feeling. It just felt like they...or it...was waiting." "Waiting for what?" "...I don't know." Katrina eyed me warily as she finished cutting up the last bit for tonight and she washed her hands as well before replying, "Ok well, my advice to you would to not go back out there unless Sam, John, or Ryan is with you alright? Promise me." I rolled my eyes at how concerned she was but I nodded none the less and agreed, "Ok ok I won't go alone. Now I have to go check on John and see how his headaches are doing." She gave a small reassuring smile as I began to walk away and then she called out, "If they are borderline migrane just send him to me!" I waved to show that I had heard her and continued to walk, just wanting this day to be over with so I could sleep it off...hopefully nightmare free.

As I walked back to my tent I saw just how many people were left in our small camp, there was Sarah and Sam, Danny, Ryan, and Katrina. Counting John and I there were only 7 of us left, 7 left out of 11 or 12...7 left against unknown numbers of the dead army, how could we stand against all this if we kept losing people to stupid or selfish mistakes? But my train of thought was interrupted as I neared the tent and heard the raised yet hushed voices of John and Sam, they sounded like they were in some kind of debate over something but I couldn't quite hear. I crouched low and moved to stand to the side of Sarah's tent just enough so I was hidden, then I began to listen, "She just said that she thought someone else was out there, but I didn't see anyone. I even checked the perimeter." "I don't care if you didn't see anyone just don't let her out by herself anymore, I don't care what it's for...I won't lose her again." Silence, "...Alright, I'll keep an eye on her." What did they mean keep an eye on me? Had I done something wrong? And why doesn't John want me going back to the forest?

All these questions reeled in my head as I backed away from the tent and stood off slightly away from camp, wanting to get my thoughts together. "Hey there you are, I've been looking for you songbird." I smiled warmly at the nickname John had given since I came back and I took hold of his outstretched hand, "Well, here I am. How are your headaches? Any worse?" "They've lessened a bit and I think I'll be okay by tonight. How was patrol earlier?" I shrugged as we walked back towards the tent, I nodded at Sam as we passed him and he smirked back, "Uh, we were lucky with one of our traps as you saw so it was okay. I think that there are more deer in this area right now. I've seen more around lately." John seemed a bit distant but nodded every now and then as we made casual conversation, I wanted to confront him about what I heard earlier but I knew now wasn't the time and nor was this the place so I let it go...but it would be brought up later.

(At the Cabin) Slender appeared in the kitchen of the cabin, his tentacles waving in slight agitation as he looked around for Charlie. "Charlie! Come quick I have news." He didn't hear a reply so he moved towards the living room, not surprised as he found the woman passed out on the couch and her feet hanging off the side while her mutt slept at the end. He wrapped a tentacle around her ankle and hefted her into the air while slightly shaking her to try and rouse her. She came to slightly and then screamed as she realized that she was dangling in the air, "Shit shit put me down! I swear you creepy freak put me down!" He smirked slightly as he got the response he was looking for and he set he back down on the couch, she frowned and tried to fix her now unkempt hair, "What the hell is your deal man?" He crossed his arms and sat down slowly in the chair across from her as he spoke with a neutral tone, "...I think I have found Orella..." Charlie nearly sprung up from her seat as she grabbed his arm and made him look up to her...or more so down to her seeing as even when he sat he was taller than her, "What do you mean you think you did? And why didn't you get her?" He sighed and rubbed his face stressfully as he tried to explain his self, "I was checking the woods a bit farther out from where I found her piece of clothing and I sensed a group of three humans walking through and checking their animal traps, I investigated further and I saw...it looked so like her I just..."

Charlie's heart sunk and her eyes softened as she watched the feared man struggle with the thoughts of the one he loved, she knew how much this whole thing had damaged him and he had just begun to act like him self again, "Hey hey, it's alright. Just tell me what you saw and we'll figure this out." He barely nodded and stood before he continued, not looking at Charlie, "She was with a younger boy, about your age, and he was trying to make a move on her I could tell. I let my anger get the best of my and I knew they could feel my presence for she told him to gather the deer and they left quickly...her hair looked so beautiful grown out the way it was...it's curlier..." She knew that he was so hopeful now and she wasn't going to let them down, she was going to get her friend back no matter what, "...Well what are we waiting for, lets go get her."

She had thought that Slender would be more than agreeing but for some reason her shook his head no, making her raise a brow in question, "What do you mean no?" "She seems...different." "What do you mean different?" He paused for a moment in thought as he tried to find the right words, "She didn't recognize my presence what so ever and even though she could not see me I looked directly into her eyes...she does not remember us...she does not remember me..." Charlie didn't understand how that could have happened nor why Orella would be hanging out with people so close to camp if she had intended to run away, it just didn't make sense. But Charlie wasn't going to give up that easily and she wasn't going to let him give up either, "So your just going to let her go?" "What else could I-" "You could at least try and get her to remember, and I'm going to help. But first I need you to pick up a few things for me..."

(Next Afternoon) "Are you sure you can do this?" "As sure as I'll ever be, and I'm not going to let her go that easily." Slender nodded as he studied the now black haired and green eyes Charlie, and he must say that if he hadn't already known that it was her then he would have never put the two together, "How are you going to keep that wig on, it's quite odd." "I need to be undercover to keep my real identity safe, like a super hero!" He merely rolled his eyes and took a hold of her hoodie before he teleported them to where he last saw Orella, "Alright, they headed north east from here so that's where their camp should be. If they accept you then meet me here tonight for an update. I will be watching from afar if anything goes wrong." The short girl nodded and hefted her bag up as she began to walk but she was stopped by his voice once more, "Charlie...thank you..." A small smile graced her face and she nodded with understanding in her eyes, "Just don't let Artimus and Bongo destroy the house 'kay?" He nodded and before she could blink he was gone, she turned back and continued to trekk on to find her friend and fix this disaster.

(Camp, Orella PoV) "John I'm going on watch with Sam okay?" I looked over to him as he paused in his conversation with Katrina and he gave a stressed sigh before nodding, watching my back as I turned and jogged towards Sam before we headed to the post. "Why has he been so weird today? He wouldn't let me go on patrol and I couldn't check the traps. Do you know why?" Sam surprisingly kept a straight face as he lied to me, "Not a clue, maybe he just wants to keep you safe since we lost three of our people." "But why wouldn't he just tell me instead if being an ass about it?" He shrugged and continued to look ahead so he couldn't be moved by my analyzing stare, we both knew that he would cave if he looked into my eyes and tried to lie, "K, just let me know if you figure something out." We walked in silence once more until we came up to the post station we had set up and both of us took a seat facing away from each other so as to keep a better watch.

I waited for him to say something seeing as Sam wasn't the quietest person but surprisingly he still didn't utter a word even after a good ten minutes, so I decided to pry him a bit, "Sam." "Hm?" "What's up with you? You won't look me in the eye, won't talk to me...did I upset you with something I did?" I heard him let out a sigh and he shuffled his feet a bit as he spoke to me, "No no it wasn't anything you did, I just...I don't know I've been thinking about the attack and I'm just wondering what the hell gods plan is right now. Are we supposed to try and fight this thing?" I felt my eye narrow and I turned to look at his back, he never talked like this and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let him start, "Samuel look at me." I took ahold of his shoulder and turned him in my direction so he had to look at me directly, his eyes were clouded with grief, "Why are you talking like this? Of course we're supposed to fight this, and I'm not going to sit by while my brother turns into some depressed husk and you just give up, it's not you Sam."

I saw his eyes soften and clear a bit as I called him 'brother' and now he was placing his hand on my neck caringly, pulling me forward into a surprisingly crushing hug. I felt his sadness and hope through the hug and he buried his head in my hair as he inhaled to get himself together, I gave him another few moments before he pulled back and patted my shoulder. "Your right Red, I just...sometimes its hard to hold back memories...But I'm glad that your hear to keep me straight, thank you." I nodded with a smirk and turned back to my watching, taking a bite of jerky and drinking some water while I tried to wrangle my thoughts together.

(Time Skip) It was getting later in the day and the setting sun was casting long shadows across the green grass, Sam and I were about to wrap up our watch and let the next pair go. "Hey don't forget your gun this time-" But I was interrupted by Sam pushing me behind him as he held up his weapon defensively, "What the hell are you doing?" He glanced at me before looking ahead again, "Someone's found us..." I moved his arm to the side and saw a shorter woman with tied up black hair walking casually towards us, unarmed it seemed and had a small backpack with her. "She does't look like she's going to attack us, let me talk to her ok?" He seemed reluctant as I walked around him and towards the woman but let me go, I pulled out my own weapon and set my expression to neutral, I wasn't going to be totally unfriendly but nor was I going to be inviting. "What's your name?" She smirked and raised a brow as she stopped about two feet away, "What, no dinner first?" I didn't twitch at her failed attempt at humor and she shrugged as she answered, "My name is Loren, yours?" I hesitated for a moment but didn't see any harm in telling her, "Wren. What do you want?"

"My camp was just over run by the dead and I was the only one left...then again there was only three of us so there wasn't alot of others." I hadn't noticed Sam move up behind me so I jumped slightly as his voice sounded out behind me, "Not something we don't know about...maybe we should take her to John. He can decided whether she is a threat or not." "Fair enough." I looked to Loren and motioned for her to follow my friend, "Let's go."

**Ooooo Charlie is trying to infiltrate but will John recognize her and try to take her out? We will see in the next chapter! Stay tuned and review!**


	4. Chapter 4: New Arrival

_**New Arrival**_

**Yes this chapter is very late and I know I said I wouldn't keep doing this but I just get so distracted I'm sorry! please enjoy this and I'll try to write faster for you all!  
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(**Charlie PoV**) My eyes scanned the clearing cautiously watching out for any sign of danger, I was literally being led into enemy territory. The woman in front of me, Wren a.k.a. Orella, would occasionally glance back at me to make sure I was following and I could tell that she was on edge as well, but not for the same reason. "So what made you wander out this way? Was your camp in the other direction?" My head turned towards Sam as he questioned me curiously, "Uh well I just went to the road and followed it until I came to this path that lead into the woods and just went from there. Figured there might be a camp this way." He nodded seeming satisfied enough with my answer, "Well, maybe you'll get lucky and John won't decide to run ya off, we have been low on numbers lately-" "Sam!" We both turned forward to see that Wren had stopped and was looking at me with cold eyes, "Watch what you give away around potential threats, it could cause a problem later."

I don't know why it effected me so much but just seeing that cold calculating gaze made me realize how much she had forgotten, and now my mission was as important as ever to me. If she really knew how she used to be and if she realized how she was acting now, I know that she would be horrified. We continued to walk on for another minute or two before I saw what seemed to be a small yet well made up camp, a few people watching from the doors of their tents as I was walked by. There were about 11 tents but I only saw about 7 people counting the two walking with me, were there others out hunting or something? But I didn't have time to think about the question any more as I was shoved forward a bit and then pulled to a stop, Orella disappeared into the slightly larger tent for a moment before reappearing with a man.

My heart stopped in my chest as the man straightened out and looked directly at me, his piercing blue eyes and jet black hair impossible to miss. He had a neutral tone like Orella as he spoke to me, "Hello, you must be Loren. You told Sam and Wren that your group had been over run, I am sorry for your loss." I struggled to keep my composure as I replied back, trying to not show recognition, "Uh yeah, thanks. I just...I'm not any threat to you all trust me, I'm just someone looking for a place to stay. But If not I will leave peacefully." He narrowed his eyes just the slightest bit, someone less observent would not have caught it, and seemed to be almost analyzing me, did he know that I wasn't who I said I was?

Sam and Orella had not made a single noise since he had started talking, they were surveying the area like nothing was occuring. After another agonizing minute of silence he nodded slightly and turned away from me, "I don't see a problem with you staying here for now, but don't try anything or you will be taken care of...permenately." His tone did not convey a sense of danger but I knew that danger practically covered his words, I needed to lay low if I wanted to keep off his radar...he probably wouldn't go too easy on me if he knew who I really was. "Come with me, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." I nodded to Orella and nodded to Sam as I followed her, this camp seemed to have tension lingering in the air everywhere I walked, something was up. I walked up beside Orella and fell in step with her, glancing around as I spoke, "So why is everyone so gloom and doom here? Seems kind of depressing."

The old Orella would have smirked and made some smart ass comment like "Well we are in an apocolypse." or "They never got to see the ending of greys anatomy." But now she looked at me with an icy stare that would freeze hell over, her eyes narrowed in irritation, "Oh maybe because they can't go to sleep at night knowing if they're safe or not. Or maybe it's because everyday we face the threat of losing more people than we already have, this isn't the time to be acting like a child and taking everything like a joke when it could endager others." I held my hands up in defense as she started to walk again and I tried to brush it off, "Hey, sorry I was just trying to make some conversation. Don't need to bite my head off." She didn't say a word back but she let her shoulders relax a bit, she was probably stressed as hell and I didn't blame her.

We finally reached a light gray tent that was in a slight corner of camp and she glanced slightly at me as she spoke, "This one's yours, we eat dinner in about another hour so be ready." And with that she stiffly walked off, leaving me to watch her go with regret and sorrow in my gaze, how was I going to get her to remember?

(**Slender PoV**) She had been accepted, the plan was going to work. But him, John, he was there and if he recognized the disguised Charlie than I would have to drag both she and Orella out of there...even if it meant leaving no survivors. The silent sounds of the woods was slightly calming to me as my anger rose at the thought of John being near my hunter, how dare he try and lure her into his trap of lies. As I turned back towards the cabin and started to head back I couldn't get her stare out of his mind, it was so cold and hard. Her eyes that were once filled with determination, bravery and humor were now filled with danger, and untrustworthiness.

"Why must the strong fall so far?" I said a quote from a novel that Orella had read, we had been talking about strength versus strategy and she said it had just popped into her mind. She has had such and impact, such an influence on my being that now it felt near impossible to live without her. Every day that she has been gone has pushed the darkness in me further and further towards the edge, it wanted me to let go and stop at nothing to take back what was mine, what I had claimed as mine, but I would not give in...I couldnd't go back to how I was all those years ago when all that I thought about was killing and murder.

Yes I enjoyed it, yes I wouldn't say that I won't ever kill again, but when you have a choice between getting something that you cannot live without and giving in to a primal instinct, the options become quite clear. I barely noticed that I had already arrived back to the cabin and as I walked inside it felt as if the air had become less depressed, like there was a slim piece of hope that we could get back the one that made us whole, and as I layed down for the night, clutching onto her journal, her memories, I let myself remember.

(**Orella PoV**) Why did I feel so frustrated whenever I looked at her? I had never met this woman in my life yet whenever I made eye contact with her I felt as if I should know her, I didn't like it. It had been about 3 days since she had first come into the camp and she was now going on patrols like the rest of us, right now she was walking with Danny and I checking for any wandering parasites. "So I'm just curious, how do you keep that beautiful hair so kept up and lovely?" Danny gave Loren his trademark smirk and tried to work his so called 'charm' on her but to no avail, she merely rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I don't know, guess it's magic hair."

"Haha good one there Loren, ha magical hair yeah...ok." I couldn't help but smirk as Danny trailed off as his plan completely back fired and he practically made an ass out of his self, "Oh don't worry Danny maybe you can try and sweet talk one of those lovely shuffling girls down the street." I turned back to the task at hand, not really thinking about what I just said, when all of a sudden I heard laughter from behind me. "Oh my god you made a joke! Queen of gloom made a joke! Hahahah!" I tried to keep a serious face as I glanced back at her, "It was a sarcastic comment not a joke, and I'm not completely lifeless alright?" She made a muffled noise of agreement and dropped the subject so we could finish the rest of our patrol in silence, but in all honesty, it felt nice to just go out and laugh a little with friends. But was she considered a friend of mine?

(**Later at lunch**) "Hey Loren could I talk to you for a minute?" The black haired woman looked up from her food at me with surprise in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and nodded before standing and following me off to a tree near the camp. I saw John give me a look as I passed him but I ignored it, for some reason he was always giving Loren these...looks. Like she was infected or she was hiding some dirty secret, but I was willing to give her a chance. As we made it to the base of the tree I sat down and leaned back as a slight breeze made my hair lift, "You can sit you know...I don't bite." She smiled slightly and sat near me with a knowing look, "I know. Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Actually yeah, there is. I just...I want to apologize for how I have been acting lately, I'm just not...the most trusting person. It's hard for me to accept people sometimes but I know that your not half bad." I let out a sigh as I finished and I could see the warmness from her smile creep up into her gaze as she nodded, "It's alright, I understand why you would be wary and what not. How long have you been here?" "About 5 months give or take." "How did you find them?" I was silent for a moment as I recalled waking up all that time ago, confused and cautious, "I had been in an accident and two people who were scouting for food found me, if not for them I would have died. I owe them my life."

She again nodded but continued on with the questioning, almost as if she was trying to figure something out, "Weren't you with another person or two before? Didn't you want to go back to them at all?" I scrunched up my eyebrows in confusion, how would she know? "How did you know that?" She got a nervous look on her face but she quickly covered it up, "Oh uh I talked to Katrina about it a little, she told me." I could tell by the look on her face that she was hiding something from me but I couldn't figure out why, I would have to look into that later but for now I would let it go. "Well, yeah. I was with some people before but after I had my accident I suffered from amnesia and I can't remember anything really before that day, sometimes I try to remember but it just ends up in a headache."

As I told her this her eyes became lit with a fire of determination and she placed a hand on my shoulder, "Just keep trying and it will come back to you, and who knows, there's probably people waiting for you somewhere that you may have come across. I know you can do it Wren, your strong enough." And with that she rose and made her way back to camp without another word, leaving me with my thoughts and unanswered questions. Why did it seem like I know this woman more than I do and how does she know so much about me? And secondly, why was John trying to keep me away from the place that was pulling me in? As I walked slowly back to my tent and laid down to relax I made a promise to myself, tomorrow I would go to that forest, and Loren was coming with me to answer what she's trying to hide.

**Here's your chapter guys sorry bout the wait! Please Review for me!**


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